The 20 Most Expensive Colleges In America

It's common knowledge that college costs are on the rise. But you may be surprised to know that some schools currently charge over $60,000 to educate a student for just one year.

A list released earlier this year by the Department of Education charts the highest tuition in the country. Unfortunately, the tuition numbers used in the rankings are two years old, and fail to show the contemporary college landscape.

The list also ignores the total cost of an education. Most four-year residential colleges will tack on an extra ten grand or more for room, board, and a wide range of other fees.

An administrator at Ohio University — which was included in the list of most expensive public universities — dismissed the Department of Education's rankings, saying, "The list does not describe the entire story of the costs of a quality education at Ohio University."

New York University — our most expensive school at a whopping $61,977 per year — falls at number 61 on the Department of Education's highest tuition list.

We've compiled a list of the colleges that are charging the most for tuition, required fees, and room and board for the upcoming academic year. These numbers are solely what you would directly pay to the school, so you're still going to have to cover books, travel, and beer, as well as the more recent requirement of a health care plan.

For schools that didn't offer a flat total on their website, we added up the fees that a typical first year student would incur.

#20 Northwestern University

Total Cost: $59,389

Tuition and Fees: $45,527

Room and Board: $13,862

Department of Education Rank: 54

#19 Pitzer College

Total Cost: $59,416

Tuition and Fees: $45,018

Room and Board: $14,398

Department of Education Rank: 41

#18 Haverford College

Total Cost: $59,446

Tuition and Fees: $45,636

Room and Board: $13,810

Department of Education Rank: 48

#17 Oberlin College

Total Cost: $59,474

Tuition and Fees: $46,870

Room and Board: $12,604

Department of Education Rank: 17

#16 Scripps College

Total Cost: $59,570

Tuition and Fees: $45,564

Room and Board: $14,006

Department of Education Rank: 56

#15 Occidental College

Total Cost: $59,592

Tuition and Fees: $46,652

Room and Board: $12,940

Department of Education Rank: 28

#14 University of Southern California

Total Cost: $59,615

Tuition and Fees: $46,713

Room and Board: $12,902

Department of Education Rank: 30

#13 Carnegie Mellon University

Total Cost: $59,632

Tuition and Fees: $47,642

Room and Board: $11,990

Department of Education Rank: 6

#12 Fordham College

Total Cost: $59,802

Tuition and Fees: $43,902

Room and Board: $15,900*

Department of Education Rank: N/A

*The average room and board for Fordham's 2 NYC campuses

#11 Johns Hopkins University

Total Cost: $59,802

Tuition and Fees: $45,970

Room and Board: $13,832

Department of Education Rank: 45

#10 Trinity College

Total Cost: $59,860

Tuition and Fees: $47,560

Room and Board: $12,300

Department of Education Rank: 5

#9 Bard College at Simon's Rock

Total Cost: $60,003

Tuition and Fees: $47,313

Room and Board: $12,690

Department of Education Rank: 10

#8 University of Chicago

Total Cost: $60,039

Tuition and Fees: $46,386

Room and Board: $13,653

Department of Education Rank: 11

#7 Dartmouth College

Total Cost: $60,201

Tuition and Fees: $46,752

Room and Board: $13,449

Department of Education Rank: 21

#6 Wesleyan University

Total Cost: $60,214

Tuition and Fees: $47,274

Room and Board: $12,940

Department of Education Rank: 8

#5 Sarah Lawrence College

Total Cost: $60,656

Tuition and Fees: $48,696

Room and Board: $11,960

Department of Education Rank: 2

#4 Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

Total Cost: $60,779

Tuition and Fees: $47,819

Room and Board: $12,960

Department of Education Rank: 36

#3 Bard College

Total Cost: $61,446

Tuition and Fees: $47,944

Room and Board: $13,502

Department of Education Rank: 16

#2 Harvey Mudd College

Total Cost: $61,760

Tuition and Fees: $46,609

Room and Board: $15,151

Department of Education Rank: 43

#1 New York University

Total Cost: $61,977

Tuition and Fees: $44,845

Room and Board: $16,622

Department of Education Rank: 64

Want to see what all this money will get you?

The 50 Best Colleges In America >>

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